The Girl in the morning dew Part 2

Three minutes later, Asuna regained her wits and lowered her

rapier. Only a few soldiers remained in the empty lot, fallen with

shock. The rest had abandoned their leader and fled.

"Hahh…"

She sighed and sheathed her weapon, then turned around—

and found Sasha and the children from the church standing

stock-still in silent shock.

"Oh…"

Asuna gasped and took a step back. She looked down, certain

that her fiery, uncontrollable rage must have terrified the children. But the spiky-red-haired boy burst with excitement, his

eyes sparkling.

"Wow…that was amazing, lady! I've never seen anything like

it!"

"What did I tell you? She's incredibly powerful." Kirito grinned

proudly. He was still carrying Yui in his left hand, but he held a

sword in his right—he must have taken care of a few soldiers himself.

"Uh…ha-ha."

Asuna laughed uncomfortably, but the kids all cheered and

leaped onto her. Sasha clutched her hands to her chest, beaming,

tears in her eyes.

That was when it happened.

"Everyone's…hearts," a tiny voiced echoed. Asuna looked up

with a start. Yui was now awake in Kirito's arm, looking out into

space, her right hand outstretched.

Asuna followed the direction of her gaze, but there was noth-

ing there.

"Everyone's hearts are…one…"

"Yui! What's the matter, Yui?" Kirito cried. She blinked a few

times, seemingly bewildered. Asuna rushed over and held Yui's

hand.

"Do you remember anything, Yui?"

"I…I…"

She squinted, looked down.

"I wasn't…here…I was in…the deepest deep…"

Yui's face scrunched up as she tried to remember. She bit her

lip, and suddenly—

"Aaah…aaaah!!"

Her head tilted back and a high-pitched scream ripped from

her throat.

"…?!"

Asuna was hit with a noise she hadn't before heard in SAO—a

crackle like radio static. Yui's rigid body began to vibrate powerfully, as though it was going to dash into pieces.

"Y-Yui!" Asuna screamed, holding the little body in an attempt

to calm it.

"Mama…I'm scared, Mama!" the little girl wailed. Asuna

pulled her out of Kirito's arms and squeezed her tightly. Within a

few seconds, the strange phenomenon stopped, and Yui's tense

body relaxed.

"What was that all about…?" Kirito murmured softly. His

question echoed through the silent alley.

3

"Pass me a roll, Mina!"

"Pay attention or you'll spill!"

"Hey! Miss Sasha, Jin stole my egg!"

"But I gave you my carrots!"

"This is quite an event…"

"Yeah…"

Asuna and Kirito were watching the battleground that was

breakfast at the church unfold before their eyes.

They were in the great hall of said church, in Sector E-7 of the

Town of Beginnings. Two long tables were jammed with heaping

plates of eggs, sausages, and salad. More than twenty children

were squashed onto the benches, eating ravenously.

"It seems really fun, though." Asuna smiled to herself, seated

at a separate roundtable with Kirito, Yui, and Sasha. She brought

her teacup to her lips.

"It's like this every day. Telling them to quiet down has no effect," Sasha griped, but her eyes crinkled with love as she watched

the children eat.

"You really like children, don't you?" Asuna asked. Sasha

smiled shyly.

"I was taking elementary education classes in college back in

the real world. Remember how big of an issue dysfunctional

classrooms used to be? I was so pumped up to be a role model to

children. But when I came here and ended up living with these

kids, I found out that reality is so much different from what I'd

heard…I think I get more support from them than the other way

around. But that's fine…or natural, at least."

"I think I understand what you mean."

Asuna nodded and patted Yui, who was concentrating fiercely

on the task of moving her spoon to her mouth. Asuna was amazed

at how much warmth the girl had brought to her life. It was a different sensation from the painful throb in her chest whenever she

touched Kirito. It was a gentle ease, a quiet feeling of being enveloped by invisible feathers.

After Yui's spasms the previous day, it was blessedly few minutes

before she'd woken up again. But Asuna didn't want to go

trekking long distances and using teleport gates after such a disconcerting incident, so at Sasha's insistence, they spent the night

in one of the church's empty rooms.

Yui was feeling well in the morning, much to Asuna's and Kirito's relief, but their situation had not changed at all. The fragment of Yui's memory that had returned made it clear that she'd

never been to the Town of Beginnings, and apparently she hadn't

even lived with a guardian of any kind. That meant the cause of

Yui's memory loss and mental regression was still a mystery, and

now they had no clues to follow up.

Despite all that, Asuna was certain of one thing.

They would live together until the day Yui's memory returned.

Even once their leave period ended and they returned to the front

line, there would be a way to make it work…

Asuna stroked Yui's hair absentmindedly. Kirito put down his

cup to speak.

"Sasha…"

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you about those soldiers. The Army I remember was pushy and arrogant, but fully dedicated to keeping the

peace. Those guys yesterday might as well have been criminal

thugs…When did things get like this?"

The corners of her mouth tightened.

"It was about half a year ago that their focus seemed to shift.

Some of them started extorting money from people and calling it

'taxes,' and others were trying to crack down on that behavior. I

even witnessed Army soldiers fighting over it on occasion. The rumors said there was some factional squabbling in the upper

ranks."

"Hmm…well, it is a giant organization with more than a thousand members. You can't expect it to be a singular monolithic entity. But if stuff like what happened yesterday is commonplace,

we can't just let that slide. Asuna…"

"What?"

"Does he know about this?"

Asuna had to stifle a laugh at the tangible distaste in Kirito's

voice at that pronoun.

"I'd suspect that he does…Heathcliff does seem to keep tabs on

the Army's activity. The thing is, he doesn't seem to care about

anything other than the completion status of the highest-level

players. He's asked me all kinds of things over the months about

you, Kirito, for instance—but when we raided Laughing Coffin,

that criminal guild, he just said it was up to us and left it at that.

So I very much doubt that he'll put together a group to force the

Army into line."

"Well, I suppose that sounds like him…But that does mean

that there's a limit to what we can do about this."

Kirito leaned over to sip his tea, brows furrowed, when he suddenly raised his head and looked to the church's entrance.

"Someone's coming. Just one person."

"Oh? Another guest, I suppose…"

Just as Sasha spoke, there was a rapping at the door that

echoed through the chamber.

Sasha strapped her dagger to her waist and Kirito followed, just

in case. A few moments later, they returned with a tall woman.

Her long silver hair was tied into a ponytail, and the sky-blue

eyes in the middle of her sharp, slender features blazed with a

memorable light. She seemed to exude intelligence.

Hairstyle and eye color were customizable in SAO, but given

that the facial features of virtually every player were of Japanese

ethnicity, few could pull off a look with such striking color

choices. Asuna herself had tried out cherry-pink hair for a brief

period before she had to ashamedly return to brown. She never

brought up that sorry experiment to anyone else.

Asuna's initial reaction was to marvel at the visitor's grace and

beauty, but she turned tense when she noticed the woman's

armor.

Partially concealed by her steel-gray cape was a deep green

tunic and pants with a relaxed upper half, accented by dully

gleaming stainless steel armor—the uniform of the Army. There

was a short sword on her right hip and a coiled black leather whip

on her left.

The children all fell silent as they noticed her clothes, their

gazes wary. Sasha gave them a reassuring smile. "She's all right,

children. Continue your breakfast."

At a glance, Sasha didn't seem like the most dependable person, but the children had absolute trust in her. They relaxed and

returned to their noisy eating. Sasha showed the woman over to

the small table and pointed out a chair. She bowed and sat down.

Asuna was unsure of what was happening, and she shot a

questioning look at Kirito. He answered as he returned to his

seat.

"Um, this is Yuriel. She wants to speak to us."

The silver-haired woman called Yuriel turned her gaze on

Asuna and bowed.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Yuriel, and I belong to the ALF."

"ALF?"

Asuna had never heard this designation. The woman nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's short for 'Aincrad Liberation Force.' It's a

wordy title to say in full, so…"

Yuriel's voice was a luscious, relaxed alto. Asuna had always

felt her own voice was too squeaky and childish, so this only

added to her envy.

"It's nice to meet you, too. My name is Asuna, and I'm from

the Knights of the Blood—well, I'm actually on temporary leave at

the moment. This is Yui."

Yui had taken her time emptying out the soup bowl and was

now working on her fruit juice. She looked up and concentrated

on the newcomer. She tilted her head a bit, then smiled and returned to her task.

Yuriel's sky-blue eyes had gone wide when she heard the name

of the guild.

"The KoB…No wonder you were able to dispatch them so easily."

Asuna realized that she was referring to the thugs from yesterday, and her hackles raised anew.

"Does that mean…you're here to take issue with what we did?"

"No, not at all. The opposite, in fact—I want to thank you."

"…"

Asuna and Kirito sat in silent confusion. Yuriel turned to them

and straightened herself formally.

"I came to make a request of you two."

"A…request?"

She nodded, her silver hair waving. "That's right. Allow me to

explain. The Army did not always have this title. The current

Army moniker, the ALF, wasn't official until a former sub-leader

of the guild, a man named Kibaou, seized the reins. Our original

name was the MTD guild…Have you heard of that?"

Asuna hadn't, but Kirito answered immediately. "That's short

for MMO Today. It was the biggest website in Japan covering online games. And the manager of the site organized that guild. But

I thought his name was—"

"Thinker." Yuriel's face blanched slightly as she spoke the

name. "And he did not want to create the heavy-fisted organization that the Army is today. He only wanted to share resources

such as food and information equally, among all players."

Asuna had heard stories about the Army's ideals and subsequent collapse. The idea was good: fighting monsters in safe

groups for stable income, then sharing that money equally. But at

heart, MMORPGs are a battle over system resources, and just because SAO put players in an extreme situation did not change

that fundamental truth. In fact, it only accentuated it.

To make good on that ideal required the organization to have a

realistic size and considerable leadership, and the guild was simply too large for that to happen. Looted items were kept off the

ledgers, players were purged, others fought back, and the guild's

leader slowly lost control.

"And that's when a man named Kibaou emerged," Yuriel said,

her voice pained. "He took advantage of Thinker's hands-off approach to gather likeminded officers in his push to strengthen the

organization. That's when the guild's name was changed to the

Aincrad Liberation Force. Their first step was to make it policy to

hunt criminals and control the most efficient fields in the wilderness. Until that point, we'd played nice with other guilds and observed proper farming manners, but with the power of numbers,

we could control areas for long periods of time, increasing our income dramatically. As a result, Kibaou's faction only gained more

influence. These days, Thinker is more of a figurehead than anything else…Now Kibaou's people are getting carried away and undertaking extortion inside the town under the guise of a 'tax.'

Those were their foot soldiers you stopped yesterday."

Yuriel paused to take a sip of Sasha's tea. "But Kibaou's faction

had a weakness of their own. They focused so much on accumulating resources that they completely ignored the progress of the

game. They'd put the cart before the horse. The average player

within our guild began to point out the fallacy of this strategy…so

Kibaou took a wild gamble to quell the unrest. He organized a

group of a dozen or so of the highest-level players in the guild and

sent them to raid the latest boss."

Asuna couldn't help but glance at Kirito. The memory of fateful Corvatz and his Army team's ill-prepared attempt at

Gleameyes, the boss of the seventy-fourth floor, was still fresh in

their minds.

"High-level or not, it's undeniable that our best fighters do not

match up to you advanced clearers. Ultimately, our party was defeated, the captain was killed, and Kibaou was excoriated for his

reckless gamble. We might have succeeded in kicking him out of

the guild, but…"

The narrow bridge of Yuriel's nose wrinkled, and she bit her

lip. "Three days ago, his back to the wall, Kibaou set a trap for

Thinker. He set up a corridor crystal to exit deep in a powerful

dungeon and succeeded in getting Thinker to walk through it.

Thinker went in unarmed, believing he and Kibaou were simply

going to have a man-to-man discussion, and as a result, he was

stranded in the deepest part of the dungeon with no means to

fight his way free, nor any teleport crystals…"

"Th-three days ago…? Then he's…?" Asuna asked reflexively.

Yuriel gave a slight nod.

"His name has not appeared on the Monument of Life yet, so

we think he managed to reach a safe haven. But it's a very highlevel dungeon, and he apparently can't work his way free. As you

know, there's no way to send him a message within the dungeon,

and he cannot access the guild's item storage from there, either.

There's no way to get a teleport crystal to him."

Arranging a corridor crystal to exit into certain death was a

tried-and-true method of murder known as "Portal PKing," and

Thinker must have been aware of the practice. They might have

been at odds, but he'd never expect another officer in his own

guild would go to such lengths. Or perhaps he just didn't want to

think his comrade capable of such a thing.

As though reading Asuna's mind, Yuriel muttered, "He was al-

ways too nice for his own good."

She continued, "The Contract Scroll is an item that signifies

the guild leader. Only Thinker and Kibaou can control it, so if

Thinker never comes back, the guild personnel list and finances

will be entirely under Kibaou's control. As Thinker's aide, it is my

fault that I could not prevent him from falling into that trap and

my responsibility to rescue him. But the dungeon he is trapped

inside is too difficult for me to conquer at my current level, and I

cannot rely on the help of other Army members."

She bit her lip hard, looking straight into Kirito and Asuna's

eyes.

"When I heard that an incredibly powerful pair of fighters had

just come to the city, I couldn't resist the temptation to call upon

you. Mr. Kirito…Miss Asuna."

Yuriel bowed deeply, formally, to both of them.

"I fully understand how presumptuous this must sound of me,

but could I ask that you assist me in rescuing Thinker?"

She stopped, her lengthy story concluded. Asuna gave Yuriel a

scrutinizing look.

It was sad to say that within SAO, trusting the word of others

was impossible. Even now, they couldn't deny that this might be a

plot to draw Kirito and Asuna out of the safety of town to do them

harm. Normally, if one maintains an adequate knowledge of the

game they're playing, a con artist's story will eventually tip its

hand, but Asuna and Kirito were far too ignorant of the Army's

inner workings to know if this tale was true or not.

After a quick glance at Kirito, Asuna reluctantly spoke up.

"I'd like to help you, if there's anything we can do. But for us to

commit to that, we'll need to do a minimum of research to back

up your story."

"That is…natural, of course." Yuriel nodded. "I'm aware that

I'm asking the impossible of you. But the thought of Thinker's

name being crossed out on the Monument of Life in Blackiron

Palace at any moment is driving me to my wits' end."

When Asuna saw the silver-haired woman's proud eyes mist

up, her suspicion was shaken. I want to believe her, she realized.

But at the same time, two years of experience in this virtual world

were blaring a warning alarm not to let emotion cloud her judgment.

She glanced at Kirito, who seemed to be conflicted as well. His

pensive black eyes reflected a heart that was torn between the desire to help Yuriel and a concern for Asuna's well-being.

At that moment, Yui, who had been keeping silent, raised her

face from her cup and said, "It's okay, Mama. She's not lying."

Asuna was taken aback. Not just at the content of Yui's statement but at the proper form and structure of it, in comparison to

the halting pidgin of the previous days.

"Y-you can tell, Yui?" Asuna inquired closely. Yui nodded.

"Yeah. I can't…explain, but I can tell."

Kirito shot out a hand to scrunch Yui's hair affectionately. He

looked to Asuna and grinned.

"I'd rather trust and regret than doubt and regret. Let's do it.

I'm sure it'll work out."

"You never have a care in the world, do you?" Asuna shook her

head in exasperation but added her hand to Yui's head.

"I'm sorry, Yui. We're going to have to put off finding your

friends for a day. Hope you don't mind," she murmured. Asuna

wasn't sure if Yui really understood it, but the little girl beamed

and nodded happily. She stroked that smooth black hair once

more and turned to smile at Yuriel.

"We'd love to lend you our aid, meager as it is. I certainly understand the feeling of wanting to save someone who means a lot

to you…"

Yuriel bowed deeply, her blue eyes brimming with tears.

"Thank you…Thank you so much…"

"Let's save the thanks for after we've rescued Thinker." Asuna

grinned again. Sasha had been watching the entire conversation

in silence, but now she clapped her hands together.

"Well! Now that that's settled, it's time to eat up! There's

plenty left; don't be shy. You too, Yuriel!"

The weak light of early winter filtered through the deeply colored

branches of the town's trees, to cast pale shadows on the cobblestones. Very few people passed through the back alleys of the

Town of Beginnings, which, in contrast to its massive size, only

made it seem colder.

The group was fully armed now. Asuna and Kirito, who was on

Yui-carrying duty, followed Yuriel's brisk lead through the town.

Asuna had naturally wanted to leave Yui with Sasha while they

handled this business, but Yui stubbornly insisted on going along,

so they had no choice. Their pockets were stuffed with teleport

crystals, of course. If it came down to it—cruel as it might be to

Yuriel—they were prepared to cut their losses and flee at any moment.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I forgot to ask about the most

important thing," Kirito called out to Yuriel. "What floor is the

dungeon on?"

"This one," she responded flatly.

"…?" Asuna was perplexed. "This…one?"

"There's a large dungeon here…beneath the center of the Town

of Beginnings. I suspect that Thinker is trapped down at the bottom of it."

"You're kidding," Kirito groaned. "There was nothing like that

during the beta test. I can't believe I missed it…"

"The entrance to the dungeon is in the basement of Blackiron

Palace—the headquarters of the Army. I believe it's the kind of

dungeon that only becomes available once a certain stage has

been reached in the upper floors. We only discovered it after

Kibaou had seized control, and he plotted to have his faction monopolize its resources. He kept it a secret from Thinker and me

for quite a while…"

"I see. Fresh dungeons always have rare items that only pop

once, then never again. They must have made quite a tidy profit

from that."

"Actually, it seems that wasn't the case," Yuriel said, slightly

pained. "For a dungeon on the starting floor, it's extremely difficult and dangerous. The average monster in there is on par with

foes from at least the sixtieth floor and up. Kibaou's advance

party was badly overmatched, and they needed an emergency

teleportation just to make it out alive. They used so many crystals

that the cost of the expedition far outweighed the reward."

"Ha-ha, serves them right."

Yuriel returned Kirito's chuckle with a smile, but her expression darkened again right away.

"But that just means that saving Thinker will be that much

harder. Kibaou set the marker for that corridor crystal's destina-

tion deep in the dungeon when he was running for his life. That's

where Thinker ended up when he traveled through the corridor.

In terms of level, I can barely manage to beat the monsters in a

one-on-one fight, so a series of them is out of the question. If you

don't mind my asking, are you two capable of…?"

"Well, if it's equivalent to the sixtieth floor…"

"I think we can handle ourselves." Asuna finished Kirito's sentence. Delving into the sixtieth-floor dungeon with a proper

safety margin meant being at least Level 70. Asuna was presently

at Level 87, and Kirito was more than 90. They would probably

be able to clear the dungeon while protecting Yui at the same

time, a thought that relieved her. But Yuriel still showed concern.

"All right, but…there's one other thing that worries me. According to one of the members of that advance party, there was a

giant monster deep in the dungeon…A boss-level encounter."

"…"

Asuna and Kirito shared a look.

"Do you suppose the boss is also equivalent to the sixtieth

floor? What was the boss on that one?"

"I think…that was the armored samurai guy made out of

stone."

"Oh, that one…It wasn't too tough, was it?"

They turned to Yuriel and nodded.

"I think we'll be able to handle it."

"Oh, that's wonderful to hear!"

Yuriel finally allowed herself a smile, her eyes squinting as

though staring into something bright.

"So you've actually been through boss fights before…I'm so

sorry to have taken your valuable time like this…"

"It's okay, we're on leave now," Asuna hastily clarified.

As their conversation went on, a massive, gleaming black

structure came into view ahead. It was Blackiron Palace, the

largest building in the Town of Beginnings. Right inside the front

door was a chamber containing the Monument of Life, the epitaph that contained the names of all the players inside the game.

Anyone was free to visit this entry chamber, but the Army had

complete control of everything beyond it.

Yuriel guided them not into the front entrance of the palace

but around the back. The tall castle walls and deep moat that kept

out intruders were uniform around the length of the perimeter.

Not a single soul passed them on the street.

After several minutes of walking, Yuriel stopped at a staircase

that ran from the street down to the surface of the moat water.

Peering over, they saw that the stairs led not to the water's edge

but down into a dark hallway cut into the stone slope.

"This leads to the sewers beneath the palace, which is where

we'll find the entrance to the dungeon. I'm afraid it's rather dark

and cramped…" She trailed off, glancing with concern at Yui, still

in Kirito's arms. Yui grimaced and piped up, affronted.

"I'm not scared!"

Asuna couldn't help but giggle.

The only thing they'd told Yuriel about Yui was that she was

"living with them." Yuriel didn't pry any further, but she was

clearly uncertain about bringing the girl into a dangerous dungeon.

Asuna hastened to reassure her. "Don't worry. She's much

tougher than she seems."

"Yep. She'll be a great warrior one day," Kirito added, laughing

as he met Asuna's glance. Yuriel nodded in satisfaction.

"Let's get going, then!"

"Nwaaaah!"

The sword in his right hand slashed straight through the monster.

"Ryaaaa!"

The sword in his left knocked it flying.

In his first use of Dual Blades in quite some time, Kirito was

unleashing on their hapless foes all the pent-up energy that had

accumulated during his vacation time. There was no room for

Asuna, who was holding Yui's hand, or Yuriel and her metal whip.

Each time they met a group of giant frogs with slimy skin or crayfish with massive gleaming pincers, Kirito rushed forward with

reckless abandon, his swirling limbs creating a gale of destruction

that decimated everything in its path.

Asuna could only sigh in exasperation, but Yuriel's eyes and

mouth were gaping as she witnessed Kirito's berserk performance. It must have been a sight completely beyond her experience in battle. Yui's cheerful chants of "Good luck, Papa" only

made the scene more comical.

A few dozen minutes had passed since they'd entered the black

stone dungeon from the dark, dank sewers. It was larger, deeper,

and more populated with monsters than they'd expected, but

thanks to Kirito's game-breaking Dual Blades, the two women

weren't tired in the least.

"I…I'm sorry. Now it feels like I'm just having you do all the

dirty work," Yuriel muttered apologetically. Asuna grinned

weakly.

"No, trust me, he's just…sick. Let him get it out of his system."

"Wow, that was mean." Kirito's ears pricked up as he returned

from slaughtering his latest batch of victims. "Want to switch

places, then?"

"In a little bit."

Asuna and Yuriel looked at each other, grinning.

The silver-haired whipmaster waved a hand to bring up her

map and pointed out the flashing friend marker that indicated

Thinker's location. Because they didn't have the map for the dungeon, the space between them and Thinker was blank, but they'd

already covered at least 70 percent of the distance.

"Thinker's location has not moved for several days. I believe

he's inside a safe area. If we can just reach him, we'll be able to

teleport him out…Thanks for your help. We're almost there."

Kirito hurriedly waved his hands in supplication when Yuriel

bowed to him.

"N-no, really, I'm doing it for the fun of it. Plus there are the

items…"

"Oh?" Asuna spoke up. "Find anything worthwhile?"

"Yep."

Kirito quickly zipped through his menu and soon, a reddishblack chunk of meat appeared with a splat. Asuna pulled away

from the grotesque blob.

"Ugh…what is that?"

"Frog meat! They say the grossest stuff can be the tastiest

sometimes. Can you cook it for me?"

"Eww! No way!!" she screamed, opening her own window. She

and Kirito shared an inventory, and she quickly scanned it until

she found an entry labeled SCAVENGE TOAD MEAT X24, then

dragged it into the trash icon.

"What? Nooooo…"

Kirito's piteous wail sent Yuriel doubling over, clutching her

stomach with laughter. Yui piped up in that instant, beaming

happily. "She finally laughed!"

Asuna thought back and realized it was true. Yui's spasms yesterday had happened just after they'd driven off the Army soldiers and brought the children to laughs and cheers. It was as

though the little girl was especially sensitive to laughter somehow. Did it have something to do with her original personality, or

had her trauma done this to her? Asuna lifted Yui up and hugged

her tightly. She swore that she would give the girl as many laughs

as she could take.

"Let's keep moving!"

And farther into the depths they went.

When they'd first entered the dungeon, most of the monsters

they had encountered were aquatic creatures, but the deeper they

delved, the more undead they ran across: zombies, ghosts, and

the like. Those sent a chill through Asuna's chest, but Kirito's two

swords instantly sent the spirits to an eternal rest.

Normally it was considered poor behavior for a player to rampage freely through an area below his or her recommended level,

but with no one around to offend, they were free to do as they

pleased. If time had permitted, Asuna might have suggested allowing Yuriel to play a supporting role so that she could gain

valuable experience and level up, but Thinker's rescue was their

primary goal.

Two hours passed in a blink, and in that time the distance between their location and the potential safe area where they would

find Thinker was closing slowly but steadily. After the umpteenth

black skeleton warrior had fallen to Kirito's blades, they spotted a

corridor filled with warm, inviting light.

"A-ha! The safety zone!" Asuna cried. Kirito ran a Search skill

check and nodded.

"There's one player inside. It's green."

"Thinker!"

Yuriel leaped forward, her metal armor clanking, unable to

hold herself back. Kirito and Asuna hurried after her, swords and

scion still clutched in their hands.

They ran down the hallway toward the source of the light,

curving to the right until they reached a large intersection. A

small room was visible on the other end of it.

The room's light was nearly blinding after their eyes had been

so accustomed to the gloom of the dungeon, but they could see a

man standing inside it. The backlight prevented them from seeing

his face, but he was waving his arms at them wildly.

"Yurieeeel!!"

He shouted as soon as he recognized her. Yuriel returned his

wave and began running faster.

"Thinkerrr!!"

The tears were audible in her voice, but his next scream

drowned her out.

"Stay back!! The corridor is—!"

Asuna warily slowed her pace, but Yuriel did not hear him. She

was racing directly for the lit room.

The next instant—

A single yellow cursor appeared from the right side of the

blind intersection, just a few meters before the safe room. Asuna

quickly checked the name that appeared: THE FATAL SCYTHE.

It was a unique name with a definitive "the" before it—the

mark of a boss monster.

"Yuriel, stop! Come back!!" she screamed. The yellow cursor

slid left, approaching the intersection. It was going to collide with

the woman. They had only a few seconds left.

"Ksh!!"

Suddenly, Kirito, who had been running ahead at Asuna's left,

vanished…or so it seemed. But he'd actually sped forward with

blinding speed, a shock wave rattling off the walls.

He practically blinked across the remaining meters, grabbing

Yuriel from behind with his right hand and plunging his left-hand

sword into the paving stones. There was an enormous metal

screech. Sparks flew. They'd stopped just before the open intersection so quickly that the air practically burned. In the next instant, a massive black shadow rumbling past crossed that empty

space.

The yellow cursor shot about ten meters down the left corridor

before stopping. The unseen creature slowly turned around and

appeared to ready itself for another charge.

Kirito let go of Yuriel and pulled his sword from the stones before taking off down that left branch. Asuna hurried after him.

She helped the dazed Yuriel to her feet and pushed her across

the intersection, then plopped Yui into Yuriel's arms.

"Take her into the safe area with you!"

The whipmaster nodded, her face pale, then picked up Yui and

headed for the light. Satisfied, Asuna drew her rapier and turned

back to the left corridor.

Before her was Kirito's back, his two swords drawn. Beyond

him was a large, vaguely human silhouette in a tattered black

robe, hovering two and a half meters tall.

The inside of the hood and the arms extended from the sleeves

were squirming with a dense darkness. Two bulging, bloodshot

eyes were visible within a sunken, darkened face, and they were

trained directly on the humans below. The creature clutched a

large black scythe in its right hand. Viscous red drops hung from

the vicious curve of the weapon. It was the very image of the Grim

Reaper.

The reaper's eyeballs swiveled to stare at Asuna. A dread chill

ran through her entire body, as though her heart had been

gripped by terror's hand.

It can't be that dangerous from a statistical perspective, she

told herself. But as she readied her rapier, Kirito's ragged voice

sounded from up front.

"Asuna, go back to the others in the safe area and teleport

them out of here at once."

"Huh…?"

"This one's bad news. I can't even see its data with my Identification skill. I think it has to be ranked for the ninetieth floor or

above…"

"…?!"

Asuna swallowed hard, her body stiffening. As they talked, the

reaper began weaving its way through the air toward them.

"I'll buy us time; now go!!"

"N-no, you have to come with us…"

"I'll be right behind you! Hurry!!"

Even a teleport crystal, the last line of defense, is not an infallible tool. The process takes several seconds, from holding the crystal to indicating a destination to the completion of the teleportation. If a monster hits the player before it finishes, the process is

canceled. This inability to complete teleportation is a common

cause of death when a party's discipline breaks down and members attempt an emergency escape.

Asuna was torn. If she turned back and helped the others escape, Kirito's legs were fast enough that he might be able to find

an opportunity to turn and reach the safe area on his own. But

the monster's initial charge was frightfully quick. What if she

made it out, and he never reappeared? The thought was unbearable.

Asuna glanced quickly down the right-hand corridor.

I'm sorry, Yui. I promised we'd stick together…

"Yuriel, take Yui and teleport out of here!" she shouted. Yuriel

shook her head, her face frozen in horror.

"No…I can't…"

"Hurry!!"

In the next moment, the reaper, its scythe held at the ready,

plunged forward with terrible speed, dark miasma spilling from

its sleeves.

Kirito crossed his swords before him, standing tall in front of

Asuna. She clung desperately to his back, adding her rapier to his

Dual Blades. The reaper gave no thought to their weapons, swinging its massive scythe down at their heads.

A red flash. A shock wave.

Asuna felt herself spinning round and round. She struck the

floor, bounced up to smack against the ceiling, then crashed to

the stones again. Her breath stopped. Her vision darkened.

In her daze, she checked their HP and saw that both had been

knocked to less than half by that single hit. The unfeeling yellow

bar told her that she wouldn't survive the next such attack. I have

to stand, but my body won't move…

But the next instant—

She heard little tapping footsteps. Asuna glanced toward them

with a start and saw someone running toward them like a clumsy

kitten unaware of the peril it approached.

Fragile limbs. Long black hair. But Yui was supposed to be

back in the safe area. She looked up at the giant reaper without an

ounce of fear in her eyes.

"No! Get out of the way!!" Kirito screamed, desperately trying

to raise himself off the ground. The creature was slowly raising its

heavy scythe again. If Yui was caught in its wide swing path, her

HP would certainly be wiped out entirely. Asuna tried to shout, to

call out a warning, but her mouth was frozen.

In the next moment, however, something impossible happened.

"It's all right, Papa, Mama."

Yui's body floated up into midair.

She didn't jump. It was a graceful motion, as though she were

beating invisible wings, until she came to a stop two meters off

the ground. Her right hand, so very tiny, was raised up high.

"No…No, Yui! You have to get out of here!"

But Asuna's scream was drowned out by the reaper's massive

scythe, which came mercilessly downward with a visible trail of

reddish-black light. As the wickedly sharp point came into contact with Yui's pure white palm—

It met a brilliant purple barrier and bounced back with a massive blast. Asuna stared with astonishment at the system tag that

floated around Yui's hand.

IMMORTAL OBJECT. A designation for in-game elements that

could not be killed—an impossible status for a player.

The black reaper's eyes bulged and swiveled as though baffled

by this unexpected outcome. The next moment, something even

more shocking occurred.

With a fwoom!, crimson flames swirled around Yui's outstretched hand. They burst outward for a moment before contracting into an elongated rectangular shape. Within moments,

the shape had refined itself into a massive blade. A gleaming edge

materialized within the flames, extending, extending…

The sword in Yui's little hand easily eclipsed her own height.

The dank corridor was lit by the gleam of the blade, like a metal

just before it melted. Yui's thick winter clothes burned away in an

instant, as though enveloped in the blade's fire. Beneath those

charred remains, she was wearing her original white one-piece

dress. Mysteriously enough, both the dress and her long black

hair showed no signs of being affected by the flame.

The giant sword, longer than she was tall, rotated once…

And without a moment of hesitation, Yui plunged toward the

black reaper, her blade tracing a path of fire.

The boss monster was only a system procedure, acting on simple algorithms, but it seemed as though those bulging, bloodshot

eyes were filled with fear.

Yui rocketed through the air, clad in a vortex of flames. The

reaper held its scythe in front of itself, taking a defensive posture

as though it feared the tiny girl. Yui met it head-on, swinging her

enormous, blazing sword.

The fiery blade connected with the horizontal hilt of the

scythe. For an instant, both figures stopped.

But Yui's sword immediately returned to life. As though cutting through solid metal with impossible heat, the glowing

weapon slowly bit through the scythe. Yui's hair and dress and

the reaper's robe were blown backward so powerfully they threatened to rip away. Occasional spark clouds, bursting to life, lit the

dim dungeon in harsh orange light.

Eventually, the reaper's scythe went bwoom and split cleanly

in two. An instant later, the pillar of fire that was Yui's weapon

smashed directly into the boss's face, unleashing all of its pent-up

energy.

"Hng…!!"

Asuna and Kirito had to narrow their eyes and cover their

faces at the power of the ensuing fireball. At the same time that

Yui brought down the blade vertically, the fireball burst, enveloping the massive creature in a crimson whirlpool that carried it

down the hallway. Behind the roar of the blast was the dying

screech of the monster.

When they opened their eyes again, the boss was gone. Tiny

flames licked the stones here and there, sputtering remnants of

the prior inferno. In the midst of all that stood Yui, head down.

Her blade was resting on the ground, point down, melting back

into flames the way it had materialized.

Asuna finally found the strength to lift herself up, getting to

her feet with the aid of her sword. Moments later, Kirito stood as

well. They took a few wobbling steps to the little girl's side.

"Yui…" Asuna croaked. Yui turned to her without a sound. The

tiny lips were smiling, but those big black eyes were brimming

with tears.

Yui looked up at Asuna and Kirito and softly spoke:

"Papa, Mama…I remember everything."

The safe haven in the deepest stretch of the dungeon beneath

Blackiron Palace was a perfect square. There was only one entrance, and a polished black cube pedestal sat in the middle of the

room.

Asuna and Kirito silently stared at Yui, who was seated on top

of the stone. Yuriel and Thinker had already teleported out, so it

was just the three of them.

Yui was silent for several minutes after announcing that her

memory had returned. She looked sad for some reason. After a

long while, Asuna overcame her hesitation and spoke up.

"So, Yui…you remember everything? About what happened to

you…?"

She was still facedown, but the little girl eventually nodded.

Her tiny lips opened, her face still caught between a smile and

tears.

"Yes…Kirito, Asuna—I will explain all of it."

As soon as she heard those formal words, Asuna felt a terrible

foreboding in her chest: the knowledge that something had come

to an end.

Yui's words slowly trailed through the square room.

"The world of Sword Art Online is controlled by an enormous

computer system. That system is named Cardinal. Cardinal

tweaks the balance of the game world of its own accord. It was

designed in such a way that it doesn't need human maintenance.

Two core programs work together to correct errors, and countless

sub-programs maintain every little thing in the world. Monster

and NPC AI routines, drop balance of items and currency—everything is undertaken by programs under Cardinal's supervision.

But there was one area that had to be left to human hands: trouble stemming from the player's mental health. Such issues could

only be solved by another human being, and to that end, several

dozen staff members were supposedly hired to address this

issue."

"GMs," Kirito muttered. "Yui, are you saying you're a game

master? An Argus employee…?"

Yui was silent for several seconds, then shook her head.

"But Cardinal's developers created another program, one that

would allow the system to even address players' mental care. A

program that would closely monitor the players' emotions

through the NerveGear, then pay a visit to those who were experiencing severe problems…The Mental Health Counseling Program, MHCP001, codenamed 'Yui.' That was me."

Asuna held her breath in shock. She couldn't immediately

process what she'd heard.

"A program…? You're…an AI?" she gasped. Yui nodded, still

smiling sadly.

"I've been given emotion simulation processes in order to

make me more acceptable to human players. It's all false…even

these tears. Forgive me, Asuna…"

Large drops spilled from Yui's eyes and evaporated into points

of light. Asuna took a step toward Yui. She reached out to touch

her, but Yui shook her head. As though saying she wasn't worthy

of Asuna's comfort.

Asuna squeezed out more words, still disbelieving.

"But…why didn't you have any memories? Is that even possible for an AI…?"

"Two years ago, on the day this game began…"

Yui looked downward and began to explain.

"Even I do not know exactly what happened. Cardinal gave me

an order I wasn't expecting. It told me not to interfere with any

players whatsoever. Forbidden to interact directly, I had no

choice but to sit back and monitor the players' mental health,

nothing more."

Asuna instantly understood that the "unexpected order" was a

directive from Akihiko Kayaba, SAO's supreme GM, but Yui

would likely not possess any information about him. Even so, her

young face was fraught with silent pain.

"The situation was about as bad as I could have expected…

Nearly the entire player population was ruled by negative emotions: fear, desperation, rage. Some even fell into madness. And

all I could do was watch them. My duty was to attend to their

emotional issues as soon as possible…but I was prevented from

doing so. Trapped in the contradiction of duties without rights, I

self-destructed, errors piling up in infinite loops…"

In the quiet dungeon, Yui's frail voice was like the plucking of

delicate silver threads. Asuna and Kirito listened in silence.

"One day, in the midst of my usual monitoring, I noticed two

players with vastly different mental parameters from the average

values. Your brain waves were different than anything I'd detected before. Joy…Peace…Not only that, but something I could

not identify. I had to keep monitoring you. Every time I came into

contact with your conversations, a strange type of desire was

formed within me…When such a routine should have been impossible: 'I want to be near them. I want to meet them. I want to

speak with them…' So I took a physical form at the system console nearest to your home and wandered in search of you. I was

most likely in a shattered and fragmented state at the time,

though…"

"And that was within the forest on the twenty-second floor…?"

Yui nodded slowly.

"Yes. Kirito, Asuna, I've always wanted to meet you. You can't

understand how happy I was…when I saw you in the forest…It's

strange, isn't it? I shouldn't be able to think this way—I'm only a

program…"

More tears spilled out, and her mouth clamped shut. Asuna

was struck with an indescribable emotion. She clutched her

hands to her chest.

"Yui…you really are an AI. You have true intelligence," she

whispered.

The little girl's tiny head inclined slightly. "I don't…understand…what happened to me…"

Kirito had been silent the entire time, but he stepped forward

now.

"You're not just a program being manipulated by the system

anymore, Yui. That's why you can put your desires into words,"

he said gently. "What is your desire?"

"I want…I want…"

She stretched her thin arms out wide to the both of them. "I

want to be with you forever…Papa, Mama!"

Asuna didn't even bother to wipe away the tears. She rushed

over to Yui and clutched her little body tight.

"We will be together forever, Yui!"

A moment later, Kirito's arms enveloped the both of them.

"That's right…you're our daughter. Let's go home and live as a

family forever…"

But within Asuna's arms, Yui shook her head.

"Huh…?"

"It's too late," she said.

Kirito pressed her for more information, confused. "What do

you mean, too late?"

"It was touching that stone that allowed me to regain my

memory."

She turned and pointed to the black cube that sat in the center

of the room.

"When you sent me into this safe haven, I just happened to

brush past the stone, and that's when I learned everything. It's

not just a decorative object…that's a command console designed

to give the GMs emergency access to the system."

As though Yui's words contained some kind of command, sev-

eral paths of light suddenly traced their way across the surface of

the black stone. A soft hum sounded, and a pale holo-keyboard

appeared, floating above the stone.

"I believe the boss monster was placed here to keep players

away from this console. I was able to access the system through

this terminal and generate an Object Eraser to delete the monster. When I made contact, the speech abilities that Cardinal's error-correcting processes had destroyed were restored in full…but

it also means that after being ignored for so long, Cardinal is finally aware of me again. The core system is searching for my program at this very moment. It will consider me a foreign process

and delete me, I suspect. I do not have much time left…"

"But…no!"

"Isn't there anything we can do? Maybe if we leave this area…"

Yui simply smiled softly at their exclamations. Tears dripped

down her pale cheeks once again.

"Papa, Mama…thank you. We must part ways here."

"No! This can't happen!" Asuna screamed, desperate. "This is

where it all starts! We're supposed to live together…as a family…"

"All that time in the darkness and pain, never knowing when

the end might come…it was you two who kept me together," Yui

said, staring right at Asuna. It was then that her body began to

glow with a faint light.

"Yui, don't go!"

Kirito gripped her hand. Her tiny fingers softly squeezed his.

"But being with you meant that everyone had a smile…That

was enough to make me happy. Please, take on my role…and help

others be happy, too…"

Yui's hair and dress began trailing frail little drops of light,

delicate as morning dew. They were slowly disappearing. Her

smile grew transparent, her weight vanishing.

"No, Yui! You can't go! I'll never be able to smile without you

there!"

Yui smiled, wreathed in overflowing lights. Just before she disappeared, she reached out and traced Asuna's cheek.

Smile, Mama…

Asuna heard the voice inside her head, just as the lights pulsed

and burst outward. In the next moment, her arms were empty.

"Aaaaahh!!"

Asuna slumped to her knees, unable to hold back the sobs. She

crumpled over the stone floor, wailing like a child. The teardrops

she shed spilled onto the floor, mixing with the remains of Yui's

light before they evaporated.

4

As though the cold snap from yesterday had never happened, a

warm breeze brushed the grass. Drawn by the pleasant warmth,

several birds were perched in the garden trees, watching the humans below with apparent interest.

They'd moved a large table out into the spacious front yard of

Sasha's church for an unseasonal garden party. Each time food

was produced from the grill—as though by magic—the children

cheered with delight.

"To think there was food in this world that could actually taste

so good…"

Thinker, the highest-ranking officer of the Army, was tearing

into Asuna's special barbecue with a look of sheer bliss. Yuriel sat

next to him, beaming. On first meeting, she'd appeared to be an

icy lady warrior, but seated next to Thinker, she had transformed

into the image of a cheerful young wife.

They hadn't had time to sit around and get a good look at

Thinker with all the commotion yesterday. Now that he was

seated across the table, they saw a gentle, good-natured man

quite at odds with his position leading a massive military guild.

He was just a tad taller than Asuna but quite a bit shorter than

Yuriel. His slightly pudgy build was clad in drab clothing, and he

wore no armor at all. Yuriel was not in her Army uniform today,

either.

Thinker held up his empty glass to accept Kirito's offer of more

wine and inclined his head to indicate thanks.

"Asuna, Kirito, you've done me an incredible favor here. I

don't even know how to thank you…"

"Trust me, I've gotten plenty of help from MMO Today over

the years." Kirito grinned.

"There's a name I haven't heard in ages." Thinker's round face

beamed widely. "At the time, those daily updates were a huge

burden. I used to think to myself, 'Doing a news site ain't what it's

cracked up to be'—but I'd take it in a second now over running a

guild. I should have just gotten into the SAO newspaper business."

The table echoed with laughter.

"So…what happened with the Army?" Asuna asked. Thinker's

smile vanished.

"Kibaou and his followers have been expelled, something I

should have done a long time ago…My distaste for confrontation

let the situation grow out of hand. I'm actually thinking of disbanding the Army entirely."

Asuna's and Kirito's eyes widened. "That would be quite a bold

move."

"The Army just got much too large for its own good. I'm thinking of dissolving it so I can build a more peaceful, cooperative organization. After all, it would be irresponsible to get rid of it and

just abandon everything we worked for."

Yuriel squeezed Thinker's hand and continued for him.

"We're thinking of redistributing the Army's resources not just

among the members but among all the people here in this town.

They've suffered because of us, after all…I'm so sorry about what

happened to you, Sasha."

Sasha's large, bespectacled eyes blinked in surprise at their

sudden apology. She hurriedly waved her hands in protest.

"N-no, not at all. The good people in the Army have helped out

some of the children in the field, too."

Her easy acceptance brought the warmth back to the table.

"By the way," Yuriel asked hesitantly, "what about the girl

from yesterday—Yui, was it…?"

Asuna shared a look with Kirito, then smiled reassuringly. "Yui

is…back home."

She brought her right hand to her chest. A thin necklace was

sparkling around her neck, one that hadn't been there the day before. A silver pendant hung in the center of delicate silver links,

and in the center of that pendant was a large, translucent stone.

When she traced the teardrop shape, she felt as though a slight

warmth flowed into her fingertips.

After Yui had vanished amid those tiny lights and Asuna wailed

against the cold stone floor, Kirito suddenly shouted at her side.

"Cardinal!!"

She raised her teary face to find him screaming at the ceiling.

"Don't assume you'll keep getting away with everything!"

Kirito gritted his teeth and leaped onto the black console at the

center of the room, tapping at the holo-keyboard that was still

visible above the stone. For an instant, the shock made her forget

her grief.

"K-Kirito…what are you—?"

"I might still be able to crack into the system using the GM ac-

count," he muttered, his fingers flailing wildly. A large window

popped open, and the room was lit by the glow of text rapidly

scrolling past. Asuna watched silently as Kirito attempted several

different commands. A small progress bar appeared, filling from

left to right. Just as it was about to finish—

The entire stone console flashed a cold white, and Kirito was

blasted backward as an explosion ripped the air.

"K-Kirito!!"

She rushed to help him up.

Kirito sat up shaking his head, but there was a faint smile on

his exhausted face. He held out his right fist to her, clutched tight.

Confused, she extended her open palm.

When he opened his fist, a large crystal in the shape of a

teardrop fell into Asuna's hand. A white light beat steadily in the

center of the complex, glittering jewel.

"What is it…?"

"Before the access privileges that Yui used to start up the console expired, I was able to separate Yui's program files from the

system and materialize them as an in-game object. It's Yui's

heart…She's right in there."

And as though his willpower were entirely drained, Kirito

flopped back down on the floor and closed his eyes. Asuna peered

closely at the jewel in her hand.

"I know you're in there, Yui…my sweet little Yui…"

The tears rushed forth again. As though to answer Asuna's

call, the soft light at the center of the crystal beat once, brighter

than usual.

After waving a mournful good-bye to Sasha, Yuriel, Thinker, and

the children, Asuna and Kirito walked through the teleport gate

to the twenty-second floor, where they were greeted by a chilly

wind carrying the scent of the forest. Their journey had only

lasted three days, but as Asuna sucked in a deep breath, it seemed

like they'd been gone for much longer.

What a great, wide world…

She pondered the mysteries of this strange floating realm.

Each of the virtually countless floors had its own residents, laughing and crying and carrying on with their lives. Well, to be fair,

the majority of them were probably suffering more than enjoying

themselves. And yet they still continued their own personal battles.

And where do I belong?

Asuna looked up at the base of the floor above as they trudged

down the path to their home.

I have to return to the front line, she suddenly realized. Very

soon, I'll have to take up my sword again and return to battle. I

don't know how long it will take, but I have to keep fighting until

I've ended this world and brought back a smile to every living

person in this game. I have to bring them joy…It's what Yui

wanted.

"Hey, Kirito."

"Hmm?"

"If we beat the game and this world goes away, what happens

to Yui?"

"Good question…I'm probably cutting it close on memory

space. I have my NerveGear's local memory set up to cache a portion of the client program's environment data within the unit. It'll

probably be tricky to extract it in a form that's recognizable as

Yui, but…I think it'll work out."

"Great."

Asuna leaned over and squeezed Kirito.

"Then we'll be able to see Yui again in the real world. Our very

first child."

"Yeah. I'm sure we will."

Asuna looked down at the crystal that sparkled between them.

Good luck, Mama, she thought she heard faintly.